This report, produced by the SPMU, provides an overview of the sessions of the Conference that took place in Vienna on 17-18 July 2008 as well as recommendations by the participants. The primary goal of this conference was to identify a potential role for the OSCE in assisting participating States to combating illicit trafficking in drugs and chemical precursors.
The event brought together over 170 national and international experts. Practitioners from participating States, Partners for Co-operation and representatives of international organisations exchanged information on the production and trafficking in illicit drugs. They also discussed the implementation of relevant international and OSCE commitments and examined further measures to enhance international co-operation in fighting the threat of illicit drugs.
During the two-day conference, the keynote speakers provided briefings on synthetic drugs, cocaine smuggling, Afghan heroin trafficking and cross border co-operation within the OSCE region. The experts had a unique opportunity for networking. Along with identifying current best practices they discussed the challenges and threats posed by the links between illicit drug trafficking, terrorism and trans-national organised crime networks.
The conference identified the main issues related to the effective measures against drug production and trafficking. The recommendations following each session suggested that OSCE/UNODC should follow-up on these issues in close co-operation with other international organisations, governments and law enforcement agencies of participating States.